After Hours Rubbish Removal case study

The situation

It was just after 7am when the phone went. A man at a family home on the southern Gold Coast had a removalist booked for midday and had just realised the truck wouldn't take fitout and strip-out debris, old furniture and equipment and e-waste. He needed them gone before the movers arrived.

Why the customer needed help

Their main worry wasn't the cost. It was not knowing what could legally go where, and not wanting to damage the house getting it all out. Both of those are part of the job for us.

What was at the property

By my count there were fitout and strip-out debris, old furniture and equipment and e-waste, along with the usual loose odds and ends that build up around a job like this. It's typical of what we see from shopping centre tenancies.

The initial assessment

I arrived at the property and the first thing I noticed was the access. Before I look at the pile, I walk the route it has to travel: doorways, steps, the driveway slope, overhead wires, where the truck can park. For this job I paced it out and worked out we'd need about two-thirds of the tipper.

How the job was planned

I gave them a fixed price there and then, based on volume, and explained what was included: evening and pre-dawn collections, dock and lift booking coordination and quiet operation. They said yes on the spot, so we planned to load in one visit rather than two.

Preparation

We checked the weather, laid out the straps and blankets for anything worth saving, and agreed a hand signal for "stop" because the truck was right on the road.

Step 1

Step one was the bulky stuff. My offsider and I took the largest items out first, tilting them through the door frames rather than forcing them. With fitout and strip-out debris, old furniture and equipment and e-waste in the mix, there was no point clearing small things while the big ones were still blocking the way.

Step 2

Step two was the heavy lifting. Anything over about forty kilos went on the trolley or got a two-person lift with straps. No hero stuff. A strained back on the first job of the day ruins the week.

Step 3

Step three was the final check. I went back through every room and corner with the customer, picked up the small stuff the big items had hidden, and swept up.

Removal, sorting and loading

We loaded by destination rather than by size. Metal on one side for the scrap yard, green waste kept clean, cardboard flattened and bundled, and general rubbish packed into whatever space was left.

From the truck it went to a licensed transfer station, where recyclables were dropped off separately, and anything usable went to a local op shop before the tip run.

Challenges we ran into

We were fitting the job in between two others, so traffic on the M1 and parking at the property both mattered.

How we handled them

I took the back roads and called ahead when we were ten minutes out, so the customer had the gate open and the car moved.

Completion and final result

When the last load was strapped down, the space was empty and swept. The customer walked through with me, signed off, and paid the price we'd agreed at the start, not a dollar more.

What I learned

What stuck with me was how much of it could be reused. People expect after Hours Rubbish Removal to mean everything goes to landfill. On this job, close to a third of it went somewhere useful.